Members Participating
Dale Sandstrom, Chair
Becky Absey
Donna Fair
William Herauf
Sally Holewa
Joel Medd
Penny Miller
David Nelson
Staff
Nathanial Elliot
Kari Goos
Jeff Stillwell
The chair called the meeting to order.
Approval of Minutes
Judge Herauf moved/Judge Nelson seconded that the minutes be approved with the addition of Judge
Herauf as a member in attendance at the October 12, 2007 meeting. A vote was taken and the
motion carried.
Court Technology Conference
Chair Sandstrom led the group in a general discussion regarding the case management systems
(CMS) exhibited at the recent Court Technology Conference. Members of the committee spent a
considerable amount of time at the conference exhibition hall and visited at length with the various
CMS vendors.
Across the board, the committee members felt that the two CMS with the greatest potential were Sustain and Odyssey.
Unified Court Information System Replacement Project
Sally Holewa reported that the following people have accepted appointments to the Operational
Oversight Committee:
Jim Gienger, from Enterprise Solutions, Inc., has been hired as Project Manager. He has prepared a Business Case, which was submitted to our ITD Large Project Oversight (LPO) manager, on October 10, 2007. Next steps are: submit a Project Charter to the LPO manager, conduct regional requirements gathering meetings, appoint members to the project portfolios, and establish priorities for the portfolio managers.
Selection and Prioritization of New ITV Sites
Judge Nelson notified the committee that the commissioners in McKenzie County have agreed to
submit a grant application to the Court Facilities Improvement fund for an IVN system in the
courtroom in Watford City. He has also spoken with the commissioners in Mountrail about the need
for an IVN system. They do not have the funds for such a system and would like the state to bear
the cost of installing one.
Sally Holewa said that in the past, the Court Technology Committee has determined where the IVN systems would be located. She said that the Court Facilities Improvement Advisory Committee has been rejecting all applications for IVN systems unless they have received prior approval from the Court Technology Committee. She indicated that it was not just the cost of installing equipment that was a concern, but the increased line charges and maintenance and replacement costs that the state is obliged to take on whenever a new system is installed. She indicated that we have budgeted enough for purchase and installation of three new IVN systems, and that we could support wiring and monthly fees for up to four new IVN sites, if the county purchased the IVN system.
Sally Holewa proposed that the three new IVN sites this biennium be:
Barnes County: because we have been attempting to place the systems in the counties with the highest volumes, Barnes County currently has no IVN system, and it is chambers to a presiding judge.
Adams County: because it has a county jail, it lacks a chambered judge, and the county has requested IVN services in the past.
Rolette County: because of the volume of cases and lack of a chambered judge.
Justice Sandstrom also noted that Barnes County has two chambered judges and that should be a consideration in the committees decision.
Judge Herauf moved/Judge Nelson seconded that the committee adopt the three sites proposed by Sally Holewa. A vote was taken and the motion carried.
Other
Judge Nelson discussed a new telephone conference subscription system he is testing in Williams
County. He said there was a need to go outside the standard ITD telephone conferencing because
of the need for advanced scheduling and the inability to tie the conference in with additional outside
lines. He said the standard ITD fee is $35/call plus additional per minute costs. The cost to use the
subscription service ranges from 4.5 to 8.5 cents per minute, with costs assessed only for actual
minutes used. He will provide an update on the service at the next meeting.
The next meeting will be on December 12, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. CST, in the Supreme Court Front Conference Room.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally Holewa